


koi no yokan

by localpubcat



Category: EXO (Band), Z.Tao (Musician)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Artists, M/M, New York City, Summer, chankai if you really look for it, it's a mess but here you go, street art
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-19 02:18:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19347535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/localpubcat/pseuds/localpubcat
Summary: Rather, it's a premonition of love.





	koi no yokan

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt petal number 163  
> Thank you so much prompter for the wonderful prompt. I took a lot of liberties with it, but I really hope it turns out to be something you like in the end. And thank you so much mod honeybee, for being endlessly patient with me. So here's my first fic, i guess!!

Sehun has fifteen minutes to endure before he reaches the station. Jongin says it’s time to give up now but he’s still as adamant as ever. The train seems to get worse by the minute and Sehun’s disgustingly expensive Armani suit really is doing nothing to help. As much as he doesn’t want to, he’ll have to return it tomorrow anyway so, right now he might as well pull through. 

 

The train continues to jostle them around and Sehun is getting impatient from wishing the train could just go a bit faster, what the heck is he paying all these taxes for. “You can just take off the jacket, you know”, Jongin says through that infuriating smile of his. Sehun sighs rather painfully before he wonders when the best friend job description ever said  _ “drive the bitch crazy” _ . 

 

“ And ruin my 2000 dollar outfit? What am I,  _ straight _ ?” Sehun quips back.

 

“Well, you’re not actually paying  _ 2000 dollars _ -” Jongin puts air quotes in the end. Verbal air quotes. Which is worse than the mocking physical ones.

 

“Details, details” Sehun cuts him off in a way too loud voice and sends most people around him looking their way. Jongin is still smiling when he resignedly shakes his head and both of them end up laughing.

 

Sehun had forced him to go to the exhibition at the MoMA ps1, where he had snagged a month long internship. Although, Jongin would probably try to sneak into the studio again, despite all of Sehun’s efforts to keep him from going overboard. The season’s first performances are starting up and Sehun can only hope he doesn’t wear out his body himself before the actual practices can do it for him. Also he wanted to meet Chanyeol later. So it wasn’t too tough.

 

“Kiss for your thoughts?” he hears Jongin say from the side. Sehun puts on a fittingly dramatic full body shudder.

 

“I’ll tell you, okay, just don’t kiss me for fuck’s sake,”, the desperation creeping into his voice. He doesn’t want a repeat of some events that he doesn’t even want to recover from the brain dungeons. He picks the safest thing. “I just hope I end up finding them today”, Sehun says. 

 

“It’s a quarter past midnight, Sehun, and it’s unlikely that you’ll somehow find them waiting for you right there”, Jongin replies.

 

“Hey! I’m not following you to Queen’s for Chanyeol. I’m a man on a mission. This could completely work out and you know that.” he says as Jongin loosely purses his lips and pretends to nod in understanding. “ I’ve cracked the code!! Come on! I know they’re going to be at the cafe today. I know it. It was your bookshop yesterday-” Jongin snorts at “your” for the bookshop in front of Tisch, popular for it’s feminist library, “- and it’s been pride flags all month. They’re covering all the gay places - ” an out of character laugh for ‘gay places’  but Sehun lets it slide, “ - yeah, they are!! All the food places near Queen’s, which you  _ know,  _ don’t argue, you know is their unofficial graffiti headquarters. There’s no way they can’t be there today. Tomorrow’s pride. Today is it. This might be my  _ last chance.  _ There is no way I’m giving it up. They’ll be there.”

 

“Sure, Jan”, Jongin says even though he can’t hide his own excitement, for both celebrating the exhibition and the prospect of Sehun probably seeing Z. 

 

“I liked you better as an uncultured swine.” 

 

Jongin tries to shrug in innocence. “They know what they’re doing, idiot. It would be crazy if you didn’t end up meeting them today. Don’t worry about it too much.” Jongin’s given up teasing him now and he doesn’t experience any of the triumph he expected, instead it makes him feel a lot more restless.

 

Z is Sehun's favourite street artist and they’re going to be at Queen’s tonight. Queen’s is a bar at night and resident safe space for lgbtqia+ youth all the time a.k.a. the best goddarn place to ever exist. Sehun’s barely avoided getting kicked out almost twenty times because apparently you can’t just sit there doing work for five hours and have to take a break, or so fucking Chanyeol says. If Chanyeol’s out, Jongin’s left with him and he happens to have enough money to make the employees keep a secret, he doesn’t even have to be a caffeine devoid third wheeling gremlin. Baekhyun rarely lets him take less than eight espresso shots in one go, sans extra charges too. Sehun tries not to think too much about his intentions.

 

Queen’s always has artists around and right about now it’s probably gearing up for tomorrow’s pride. It’ll be open this late for the last stretch preparations and if the lights are on, it’ll also be open for anyone who comes around. Which means Z. They’ll be there. It’s been a while since Sehun discovered their work and in short, it was love at first sight. They have the most beautiful style which felt like it was tailored for Sehun, in a way. If he could pick an art style to be his own, theirs would be it. 

 

He found their first work a couple months ago on the side of Queen’s. He was fairly acquainted with the street art scene, and the simplistic Z signed at the bottom was nothing he’d seen before. It was a portrait of a boy with flowers bound around him. The flowers looked soft and it almost felt like the boy was keeping himself in place so as not to snap the stems. After recovering his breath and making a quick google search, he found Z’s anonymously run instagram, where they put up more of their street as well as digital art. Their work was not only on the walls of the city but bridges, lamp posts, and the occasional billboard. They “dabbled” in  _ animation.  _ Sehun knew he was too far gone at this point.

 

At some point, he started receiving amused and flattered replies from Z to all his earnest posts on his own art curating blog. He had a running joke on his blog and also in the mess of comments in Z’s posts about how he was  _ so close _ to cracking the code for how they selected their next locations, even when there clearly wasn’t any pattern. Z entertained it too, by never denying the speculations and only typing out smiley-crying face emojis and the more infuriating winky face emojis. About a month ago, Z posted screenshots of Sehun's blog on his instagram right when it started to spike in popularity. Z thanked him for the kind words and said that the pattern theory is certainly “interesting”. 

 

Incidentally the chaos of Z’s endearing instagram feed for the past week had changed to pictures of prettily painted pride flags geotagged on more pro lgbtq+ places over NYC. With every post the location got closer to Parson’s. For a second, Sehun thought that Z was returning his borderline stalker tendencies but before he could run to town with all the crazy, he sought reason and immediately the side wall at Queen’s flooded his mind. Today was the day before pride and there was no flag post yet. As much as he was excited, Sehun really had cracked the code. There was really no concrete reason Z would be there right fucking now but Sehun wouldn’t risk it. Even if he just finds the flags, he knows he will lose his mind.

 

The voice from the speakers fills the train “- West Thirteen Street Station” when Jongin nudges his side and they dart out of the thin crowd and go up the stairs. The smell of rubber and exhaust hits Sehun all over again. The sound of too many cars and the taste of ozone in the air. He’ll never get tired of it but he’s almost panting. He moves to take off his jacket before he realizes Jongin eyeing him in anticipation. With his jacket around his elbows he freezes for a good long second, before he shrugs it on, tugs on the collar and pretends to adjust his shoulders in it. There’s no way he’ll slip up.

 

Jongin all but skips a few steps ahead of him when he says, “You do realize I’m the real winner here if you keep doing that, right?” 

 

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Kim.”

 

They walk a couple blocks in silence, and as fast as they can. The sides of the streets are mostly all lit up. Queen’s is no exception and the sign’s usual turquoise is glowing rainbow already. Sehun can make out a figure hunched over in front of one of the glass panels under next to the door. As he gets closer, he notices the shock of platinum blond hair as the figure straightens to it’s height to look through the glass. 

 

_ That’s not Chanyeol. That’s not Chanyeol. Holy fuck. Don’t freak out. Don’t get your hopes up. You don’t know who that is. Stop thinking right now. Shut up. You don’t know who that is. _

 

He tries to look at Jongin for some good, good emotional support but he seems completely in control. They’re still almost a block away. The man places his hands on his hips, still intent on the glass panel. His arms are beautifully tanned and reflect all the neon with a warm glow. 

 

_ Oh my god. Holy fuck. This is how i go out. You still don’t know if he’s them. You fucking idiot, how could it be anyone but Z. You still don’t know. ARE YOU KIDDING ME, THAT’S Z. I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT’S Z. WHAT THE FUCK. _

 

Before Sehun completely loses control, the heat and the sound of the city and the sight in front of him overwhelm him into reality. Surprisingly he hasn’t swooned like a Victorian damsel and died right here on the sidewalk so he can keep this going. 

 

The man is wearing a loose white sleeveless shirt and Sehun reconsiders every decision he’s made in the past hour. Something near his face glints blue - silver and  _ oh god he’s wearing earrings.  _ He picks up a bottle near his feet and starts spraying the glass. The higher, sharper parts of his face and arms are alight with hazy golden glow. They’re a couple of meters away when he spares a glance at them, the passers by. They slow down and Sehun can attest that that hair is the single most magical thing he’s ever seen. His chest is pounding and he feels high off the adrenaline in his body. He steels himself to keep moving and slow down a couple of metres away. Z -  _ oh my god it’s him I can’t even believe what the actual fuck is happening right now? -  _ Z probably sees them slowing in the periphery and almost fully turns away from the glass. His eyes are distracted for a second before they focus on him. He’s wearing eyeliner.  _ Eyeliner. It has never looked this fucking hot on Anyone.  _

 

He’s pulled out of the quicksand when he sees Jongin bypass Z altogether- that fucking bastard- and pushing the door open like there’s a hoarde of flesh eating pigeons chasing him. Z’s incredulous eyes stop following Jongin. He turns to Sehun and he is about to have a nervous breakdown when Z smiles at him. His teeth glow a bit from the sign and his face is completely transformed.  _ Fucking artists and always wearing their hearts on their sleeves. _ His smile is such a complete contrast to his eyes and so intensely unguarded that it almost makes Sehun uncomfortable. Almost. It also makes him immediately notice his skin and how unbearably soft it looks. Z is a boy with beautiful skin and beautiful hair and the most unforgettable smile he’s ever seen. 

 

Sehun tries and obviously fails to bring his features into what he can only assume is some state of sanity and semblance. He’s a couple of feet away from Z now. Sehun tries to bring back feeling to his mouth to stop drooling and start acting slightly more like a normal person. “Oh my god.  _ You’re _ Z.”

 

“Hun-shine?” says Z, with his eyes adorably wide.

 

_ Oh my god. His voice. Why allowed him to sound like that? That’s his voice. Okay. Definitely not okay. This is a definite 911 situation.  _

 

Sehun pulls himself together and just hopes he isn’t blushing like an idiot when he laughs, “Yeah”, Sehun sounds breathless to his own ears. A beat later, “How do you kn-”

 

Z turns to the glass laughing  _ (oh fuck)  _ and says “Your face looks like your comments.” 

 

It takes Sehun a second to remove his attention from Z’s face and for the first time he notices the paint spelling out GAY LIBERATION FRONT. The text seems familiar and it clicks as the same text as that of The Stonewall Inn sign. Z’s signature flowers seem to grow out of the bold letters, only this time they’re a vibrant multicolour. 

 

Sehun is trying to process what’s happening and thinking which question to ask first when Z holds out the can in his hand to Sehun and eyes his three-piece suit, “You’ve cracked the case Mr. Detective, you wanna celebrate by helping out the perp?”  

 

Sehun’s in overdrive and it’s not surprising when he says, “Might as well get it done before you’re cuffed.” 

 

Z immediately loses his grip on the bag he was presumably rummaging for spray paint and wordlessly looks up at Sehun from where he’s crouching a couple steps away. Sehun can see him gathering himself as he stands up shoulders straightened and his expression turning into something else entirely. Because Sehun has apparently lost all control over his facilities, he tries to make it better by saying, “I mean, yeah, who are we kidding, if anyone’s getting cuffed here, it’s gonna be me.”

 

As expected, he makes it even tougher for himself to recover from the first comment, which was enough to deal with alone. Z now holds a can in his left hand and instinctively makes sure he’s still holding it. And because Sehun refuses to learn he makes a final weak attempt, “I mean, not like any of that has to happen. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t, but, like, not right now.” Z raises an eyebrow in amusement  _ (HAIL JESUS BUT FUCK ME NOW) _ . “Or  _ Ever,  _ i’m not saying that-” 

 

Sehun takes the hundredth Long Suffering Sigh of the night and says, “Let’s just agree to ignore everything I said to you since I first met you.” At this point Z is failing at trying to hold in his laughter and replies, “Whatever you say, hun-shine.” Sehun’s face is burning up and Z’s laughter is contagious. Sehun knows that it’s impossible but everything about him is so familiar. He feels at so much at ease that all his instincts scream Vulnerability and almost shut him down. Almost. 

 

Sehun feels himself smile and shakes his head like he could get himself back to his senses  _ (wishful thinking, twink)  _ and out of all the questions he has, he asks, “So what am I supposed to do exactly?” 

 

Z slips into motion when he starts to spray a couple of golden vines through thin stencils and slowly explains, “Just a few vines wherever you feel like adding them.” His voice was so bright and he looked at Sehun with anticipation and wonder as if whatever Sehun does requires his full attention. They work side by side when Sehun snaps into reality for the thousandth time this night and asks, “ _ How _ have you not been arrested yet? ” 

 

“I’m your New York City neighbourhood-vigilante-vandal. Only my arch nemesis hun-shineschmertz has ever come close to thwarting my plans.”

 

_ He’s a dork. Fucking great. I swear to god just let me suck- _

 

An internal head shake later, “No, really. Do you have a permit?”

 

“This is kinda disappointing but you’re actually not doing anything illegal. This is actually a commission.”

 

“Wait, what? Did Minseok commission you?”

 

“Well, now that I think of it, Chanyeol isn’t really paying for it, is he? So yeah, Minseok commissioned me.”

 

_ Stop. Rewind.  _ “You know Chanyeol?”

 

“Yeah” Zitao smiles again  _ (fucking stab me, it would hurt less, you beautiful dork) _ , “We’re in the same music program at Tisch. Have been for a while, actually. About half a year. He actually convinced to finish off the pride flag series with this. Him and Jongin. The credit goes to Jongin too.” He gestures to the piece.

 

Everything clicks in place and in the back of his head, Sehun can feel the machinery shift and start to plot his revenge. Fucking Chanyeol. And the traitor who he won’t even grace with a name. He composes himself to make it seem like he isn’t composed of mainly rage and blood lust. 

 

“Ohhh.”  _ Smart.  _ Z’s eyes are intent on him. Sehun takes a step back and declares, “Well, I think I’m done.” 

 

Sehun glances at his watch, it’s 1:00 am. The streets are still loud with cars going nowhere. The air has cooled down a bit though. He looks up at Z and his hair still reflecting the sign. Z’s looking at the work, and for a moment Sehun can the city fall away. He doesn’t believe in being able to love someone at first sight. He knows better than to feel familiarity and believe in a home. But he knows he’s feeling like he’s been here before. It’s a weird deja vu in reverse. Jamais vu. 

 

“I know you’re a fanboy and I shouldn’t take advantage of you and your volatile teenage hormones, but, uh before you go, can I do exactly that and ask you if you would umm, like to get a coffee with me?”   

 

Sehun knows this feeling. And he knows that smile. As easily as he fell in love with his art, he knows that he will fall in love with Z. 

 

Sehun barely manages to avoid pulling the reasonably dreaded Victorian swoon and says, “Yes.”  

 

They both pack up the paints and start to go inside when Sehun realizes the traitors are still in Queen's, and they’re probably alone, which is a risk he knows better than to take. He catches Z’s arm _ (OH MY GOD WHY DO YOU FEEL LIKE THAT WHAT THE FUCK) _ and says, “ How about we walk a couple blocks and get big gay ice creams instead?”

 

Sehun moves his hand and they clasp their fingers together. Sehun starts taking steps backwards while Z slings his backpack on a shoulder. He pulls him out of the light of the sign and they turn the corner to seventh avenue street. 

 

“So, lover boy, do you have a name?”

**Author's Note:**

> Who says that? We'll probably never know. They also go to pride together the very next day and Sehun gets his revenge.  
> Thank you reader, for sticking around. If you have anything to say, leave a comment!!  
> Happy pride month!!! <3333


End file.
